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Saturday, December 31, 2011

This veil on your face is beautiful in the extreme but
How nice it'd have been if you had turned it into a flag

People go into ecstasy while reciting this couplet. Such a revolutionary couplet, they say. Very inspiring and very encouraging and refreshing and what not. But is it really that? Why can't the man himself make a flag? It would be alright to borrow a spare veil from your daughter, your wife or your mother. In their enthusiasm to promote revolution such people, who indulge in this type of activity, forget that they have abdicated their duties as men. If you have a house then the identity of the house is by the women in it. Not men. Some people may not like it but in spite of the fact that reality has been distorted beyond recognition some signs still remain and we shall be better for us to clutch dearly to these signs. It shall be worthwhile to spend few moments to ponder over this fact that house is made by women. Nor the bricks and the walls but the nest that is cozy. It is a spiritual, moral and social crime to destroy this institution. Have your revolution at the cost of everything else, and you would not like to destroy many other things too, but not the family not the house. Make your flags yourself, make your revolutions yourself but deliver some dough in the evening to her and let her create those miracles that only she can do or she does better than you. And leave the exception out. Exceptions are not the rules. Whether pushing of woman out of the house has been due to socialist thinking or due to capitalist thinking the result is the same in both cases - destruction of house and decreasing number of children in the family. And if the world is still increasing with good speed then please know that this is not happening in your backyard. Most probably there are no kids playing in your compound. If you have them kids in your backyard then yours truly will assume that you have understood everything that we have written here including the fact that there are many people who have to ponder over these things.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Once upon a time there were Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), Imam Malik (RA), Imam Shafe'i (RA) and Imam Hanbal (RA). Then the people followed one or another one of these four Imams. And then oil was found in the deserts. Then there were some people, followed by western educated masses, who told the rulers in the oil rich regions that forget about those four Imams (RA). There is nothing special about them. Follow Muhammed (PBUH). Isn't Muhammed (PBUH) superior to the four Imam (RA)'s? Yes! Nodes the ruler. Then follow us. We'll give you the real Islam - not the riff raff that you have been practicing so far. Forget following the four Imams follow us. Publish our books. Through out the books of those other people. They are Ash'aris. They are not Muslims. They are Maturidis. They are not Muslims. They are Sufis. They are not Muslims. They are too faith based people. We follow our intellect. Do you want to follow those people who are not intellectuals? Do you want to follow those people who do not belong to your race? What happened to your nationalism? Forget them Sufi Dufis. Follow us. We shall guide you away from Abu Hanifa(RA), Imam Malik (RA), Imam Shafe'i (RA). We are the true representatives of Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal (RA). You are safe in our guidance.

Once upon a time a few decades ago there was an Alig. He was a God fearing Alig. Yes that type of people exist. He had his own brand of sense of humour. One he was musing over getting a Sherwani stitched out of Jeans cloth. Why? Well the Jeans generation will not listen to things Islamic. For them Jeans are modern and Islam is an out dated preoccupation. For those who came late a Sherwani of a black colour is part of the official student's dress in at AMU. It is really very painful to sea that people will crush the sentiments of a sage under their feet. The sage wanted a crown of no god but God on the heads of his graduates while the graduates see only one thing - whether the modern world approves of them or not and whether they fit well into that world or not.

On an Islamic forum a user made a few very intemperate remarks. Another one commented on one of his posts whether the former is bipolar or not. This is interesting point of departure. A new term bipolar is being used here. This is a state in which a person swings between very good and very bad moods. Needless to say that this is an insulting term. On the face of it this state is worse than depression because the irritable and depressed mood is only one disease while swinging between two things is an additional malady. In reality this is strange thinking. The person who is swinging between very good and very bad moods is at least spending some time in good mood. For a person suffering from depression this can not be said. And this is the rub. In modern times we can not even figure out whether we are having good time or bad. Present situation is a good example. A person is spending time in good mood but we are saying that his problem has compounded. To keep the things simple we must assert that problem has been slightly mitigated. The good moods are present and this should be taken as a good thing. Of course excitement and excessive elevation is looked down upon by Shariah. Moderation is Islamic way of life and in the case of so called bipolar disorder there is indeed one additional problem to handle but it is not what our friends from psychology department are at present thinking. The problem is to bring everybody into the moderate range. There should not be too much dwelling upon the horrors of hell because this scares a person. There is also need to indulge in the thoughts of Jannah in moderation because that sort of makes you to forget that you have to work for it in this world itself.

This is all that we would like to say in this post but we ended up bringing the Psychology Department into the discussion. This is also relevant. Like most of other academic disciplines Psychology too has been bucked up to its present state by the west. And like the theory of evolution they have got some of the things in Psychology too badly wrong. People from that disciple will tell you that psychologists take religion as a mental disease. May Allah(SWT) forgive us for mentioning this. We hope to return to these matters again and again in future, Lord Most High willing.

Thanks to Paul Krugman post we came to know about US being in a state of some sort of recession.
Now economists tell us the recession will return to Europe next year.
This is a bad news. Bad news because though it is an integral part of life but our friends there do not know how to handle it. In Islam the solution has always been there. The solution is simple and it says that when your income is less then reduce your expenditure. This is what is difficult to communicate to the western elite as well as the people. The people who have been brought up on the staple diet of borrowed glory will find it impossible to comprehend that they have to tighten their respective belts. By borrowed glory we mean the glory and goods brought into your house on credit. In case of the housing crisis generated depression of 2008 the people simply returned their houses to the banks from whom they had taken their loans and the whole goods, the house, were lying in the go-down, virtually, called the banks. The growth based economy assumes a sustained growth. This is a logical inconsistency because the natural resources are finite. The obvious solution is to spend when you have the money and tighten the belt when you do not have it. Both of these things are anathema to western way of life. When you have the money they insist that you save it - that is what banking and insurance is all about. And when you do not have the money they insist that you spend it by borrowing loans including multiple mortgages of all the immovable property. And then live the rest of your life according to the whims of your creditors. This is a mess in the best of economic times and during recession it means a worse thing - it is called depression. Latter is amongst the most horrifying calamities that Lord Most High has sent to mankind. And anybody who does not spend his time in contemplating about hereafter above statement might trigger another bout of anxiety by insinuating that God is not Merciful. May He(SWT) forgive us for repeating the words of such grave import. God Most Beneficent is indeed Most Merciful but we have traveled on the wrong path to such large distances that He(SWT) is possibly angry. Bad things come either as a means of testing and examination or they come in as a means of retribution and punishment. Recession is certainly a test and an examination while depression probably is a punishment. Those who are wise take admonition by such things while the arrogant people wave away these things as fantasies - only to be plunged deeper into the calamity. may Allah(SWT) save all those who follow the path of guidance from severe trials tribulations.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

She has come up up with the accusation that there is gender discrimination at AMU.

This is based on her observation there has been no female VC of AMU.

Or female PVC. Registrar. And so on.

AMU fraternity will take it on the chin but will not respond.

They should.

AMU is a minority institution and the rights of the minorities have not been fully delivered till now.

It was known to the minorities for long, including to people like above mentioned person, but it even became official after the presentation of the Sachar Commission Report.

Now when the a unit of democracy, called the minorities, have not got their own rights delivered to them then why this cry about things like gender discrimination at AMU. The western idea of man-woman equality has gone to the brain of some people and it is mighty difficult to convince them about the fallacy of the western concept of equality.

And they can make defenders of Islam look very bad. Just like traitors.

Luckily there are people in Alig fraternity who have seen through this facade.

And they also have started speaking - as seen in case of Maulana Azad Library access to girls issue.

Some more assertion is required on part of Alig community so as to completely and decisively neutralize these internal detractors of the social group for whose rejuvenation Sir Syed Ahmed Khan dedicated his life.

One can start by telling them some home truths that might look disconnected to the present issue but they are not.

One is the USSR defeat in Afghanistan leading to collapse of communism as a practical ideology. The second is the defeat of the residual western forces in the same place and practical collapse of the ideology that these detractors carry. It need a little bit of assertion to impress upon these people that though we do have problems in life but we would like to solve them according to the formula of our dear founder and not the jumping Jacks and Janes inspired by the west. The master key of our dear founder was the crown of no god but God on our heads.

Rushdie:Dear
little Six - Billionth Living Person: As one of the newest members of a
notoriously inquisitive species, it probably won't be too long before
you start asking the two $64,000 questions with which the other
5,999,999,999 of us have been wrestling for some time.How did we get here? And, now that we are here, how shall we live?

Uni:
Dear Rushdie. As one of the newest member of the notoriously sneering
species, it is a pleasure to note that you at least admit that the
whatever dollar questions remain unanswered - still being wrestled with.Oddly
- as if six billion of us weren't enough to be going on with - it will
almost certainly be suggested to you that the answer to the question of
origins requires you to believe in the existence of a further,
invisible, ineffable Being "somewhere up there", an omnipotent creature
whom we poor limited creatures are unable even to perceive, much less to
understand. That is, you will be strongly encouraged to imagine a
heaven, with at least one god in residence.Oddly,
it has occurred to you that we the inquisitive EXIST and all on our
own... function and procreate, all on our own... the entire universe
runs smoothly all on its own - down to the whole factory running within a
single cell - all on its own. The fact that you're unable to perceive
THIS little piece of clear logic, is what's beyond us poor creatures.This
sky god, it's said, made the universe by churning its matter in a giant
pot. Or, he danced. Or, he vomited creation out of himself. Or, he
simply called it into being, and lo, it Was. In some of the more
interesting creation stories, the singly mighty sky god is subdivided
into many lesser forces - junior deities, avatars, gigantic metamorphic
"ancestors" whose adventures create the landscape, or the whimsical,
wanton, meddling, cruel pantheons of the great polytheism, whose wild
doings will convince you that the real engine of creation was lust; for
infinite power, for too easily broken human bodies, for clouds of glory.
But it's only fair to add that there are also stories which offer the
message that the primary creative impulse was, and is, love.Creation
stories might be many - yes, but the truth is only one. If you're not
convinced by it, cool. But this gives you no right to ridicule all the
versions with a single mindedness worthy of an award, really. You can't
prove your theory, even if you're unconvinced by the opposing theory.
There are far too many out there who (despite, not having seen it)...
believe in God. And you don't find them ridiculing the opinions you
hold.Many of these stories will strike you extremely beautiful, and therefore seductive.No. That's not the reason why we believe in them. Sorry. Wrong guess.It
is possible that they may at some point come to feel inescapable, not
in the way that the truth is inescapable, but in the way that a jail is.
They may at some point cease to feel like the texts in which human
beings have tried to solve a great mystery, and feel, instead, like the
pretexts for other properly anointed human beings to order you around.
And it's true that human history is full of the public oppression
wrought by the charioteers of the gods.In
the opinion of religious people, however, the private comfort that
religion brings more than compensates for the evil done in its name.

Firstly,
for people who do believe in God (with their hearts and minds) do not
feel the truth to be like a jail, confining them. So wrong guess here
again. And secondly, the teaching of human beings that led to this
truth, wasn't forced upon us. Nobody pointed a gun at us to believe in
God. And thus, the argument that they only did it to order us around,
stands totally invalid. The fact is, that evil can take any excuse for
committing evil. If religion is one such excuse, then the blame on
religion itself is foolish. Go blame those particular people.As
human knowledge has grown, it has also become plain that every
religious story ever told about how we got here is quite simply wrong.
This, finally, is what all religions have in common. They didn't get it
right. There was no celestial churning, no maker's dance, no vomiting of
galaxies, no snake or kangaroo ancestors, no Valhalla, no Olympus, no
six-day conjuring trick followed by a day of rest. Wrong, wrong, wrong.Your opinion, your opinion, your opinion. We don't consider the creation process as wrong.

But
here's something genuinely odd. The wrongness of the sacred tales hasn't
lessened the zeal of the devout in the least. If anything, the sheer
out-of-step zaniness of religion leads the religious to insist ever more
stridently on the importance of blind faith.It's
not blind. As I said (and I'm a believer so I know what I'm saying),
the decision is a sound one, made by the heart and mind. If you don't
believe that, your problem.As a result of
this faith, by the way, it has proved impossible, in many parts of the
world, to prevent the human race's numbers from swelling alarmingly.
Blame the overcrowded planet at least partly on the misguidedness of the
races spiritual guides. In your own lifetime, you may witness the
arrival of the nine billionth world citizen. (If too many people are
being born as a result, in part, of religious strictures against birth
control, then too many people are also dying because religious culture,
by refusing to face the facts of human sexuality, also refuses to fight
against sexually transmitted diseases.)Weird
it is, that you, not having had control of when to enter this world
(did you decide your birthday hmm?), and not in control of when you'll
leave this world... think it's prudent to think that we all have control
over the population size of this planet?

There
are those who say that the great wars of the new century will once
again be wars of religion, jihads and crusades, as they were in the
Middle Ages. I don't believe them, or not in the way they mean it. Take a
look at the Muslim world, or rather the Islamist world, to use the word
coined to describe Islam's present day "political arm". The divisions
between its great powers (Afghanistan against Iran against Iraq against
Saudi Arabia against Syria against Egypt) are what strike you most
forcefully. There's very little resembling a common purpose. Even after
the non-Islamic NATO fought a war for the Muslim Kosovan Albanians, the
Muslim world was slow in coming forward with much needed humanitarian
aid.Oh you don't need
to remind us about the ''efforts'' of the Muslim nations right now. They
are deplorable. But we also know that it's the leaders of these states
that are quite oblivious to events around them. Not the common man. If
the common man were like this, there would be no flotilla towards Gaza
.. knowing that Israeli forces aren't going to give them a red carpet
welcome. And btw, the war b/w religions is already going on. And yes,
ideology remains the key war instigator even now.The
real wars of religion are the wars religions unleash against ordinary
citizens within their "sphere of influence." They are wars of the godly
against the largely defenseless - American fundamentalists against
pro-choice doctors, Iranian mullahs against their country's Jewish
minority, Hindu fundamentalists in Bombay against that city's
increasingly fearful Muslims.If
you're calling state laws as wars... then even more weird is that you
didn't mention in this list of yours one very very important one... the
policies of the state of Israel, the policies of India on Kashmiri
Muslims... it's not only the godly who impose their laws. Secular
governments do the same thing. If one opinion is unacceptable to you,
doesn't mean you go about calling it war and then select a subset of
state policies as examples. Puny indeed.The
victors in that war must not be the closed-minded, marching into battle
with, as ever, God on their side. To choose unbelief is to choose mind
over dogma, to trust in our humanity instead of all these dangerous
divinities. So, how did we get here? Don't look for the answer in story
books. Imperfect human knowledge may be a bumpy, pot-holed street, but
it's the only road to wisdom worth taking. Virgil, who believed that the
apiarist Aristaeus could spontaneously generate new bees from the
rotting carcess of a cow, was closer to a truth about origins than all
the revered old books.To
choose unbelief is your choice, we're open to believing in God, despite
you thinking of it as being closed minded. Trusting in humanity can't
go side by side with belief in God? Apparently, you haven't read much
into history. Imperfect human knowledge was enlightened with scriptures,
and this knowledge was the source of illumination for a great number of
minds. And then you ask, how did we get here? Didn't you, in the
beginning talk about this as a notoriously inquisitive display to ask
these questions? Consistent, aren't you?The ancient wisdoms are modern non-senses.Live
in your own time, use what we know and, as you grow up, perhaps the
human race will finally grow up with you and put aside childish things.
As the song says, "It's easy if you try."As for
mortality, the second great question - how to live? What is right
action, and what wrong?- it comes down to your willingness to think for
yourself. Only you can decide if you want to be handed down the law by
priests, and accept that good and evil are somehow external to
ourselves.The blind
wanderings and back trackings of modern sciences is also a lot of
claptrap, no worries. And sure, go ahead with this logical mode. Hand
over the morality reigns to each and everybody's own individual self. So
if a thief thinks its moral to steal (because he/she felt it inside
that its okay!), then don't blame him. Sure.

To
my mind, religion - even at its most sophisticated - essentially
infantalizes our ethical selves by setting infallible moral Arbiters and
irredeemably immoral Tempters above us; the eternal parents, good and
bad, light and dark, of the supernatural realm.To
each, his or her own. We don't (and won't) mock your ideas. Follow what
you will, but at least you shouldn't mock the things you don't agree
with.How, then, are we to make ethical choices without a divine rulebook or judge?You're not supposed to. That's the thing, see.

Intellectual freedom, in European history, has mostly meant freedom from the restraints of the Church and not the state.The
Church men had made the laws that were suffocating mankind.
Christianity had nothing to do with it. Even now, the lobbying for doing
away with celibacy laws prove that the original teaching did NOT
contain celibacy - nothing unnatural is ever promulgated in the main
religions.

This is the battle Voltaire was
fighting, and it's also what all six billion of us could do for
ourselves, the revolution in which each of us could play our small,
six-billionth part; once and for all we could refuse to allow priests,
and the fictions on whose behalf they claim to speak, to be the
policemen of our liberties and behavior. Once and for all we could put
the stories back into the books, put the books back on the shelves, and
see the world undogmatized and plain.You
mean, see the world in chaos and disorder. Even right now, the world's
in disorder because of lack of belief in accountability (yes, even by
those who CLAIM they're following religion and do heinous crimes - all
acts of people who don't believe in God, Hereafter and Judgement).Imagine there's no heaven, my dear Six-Billionth, and at once the sky's the limit.Imagine
a Just God, and imagine trying to follow His Teachings, being good to
fellow humans and doing good in all spheres of life. The sky is
certainly the limit.

Hindutsan, a Hindi daily, is one of the most circulated newspapers in that language. It was on the scene much before the regional Hindi newspapers captured the market and grew fat. On December 10, 2011 it launched its Aligarh edition. Earlier we had reported about publication of Aligarh edition of Urdu daily Inquilab. There are also two big Hindi newspapers who bring out Aligarh editions. It would seem as if Aligarh is coming of age as a modern city. Far from it. (And, of course, thankfully so.) This proliferation of local editions is should be taken more of an external attention than anything internal blooming of Aligarh into a vibrant metropolis. But Hindustan is of course welcome to this town. For yours truly this associated with very fond childhood memories. They publish a Hindi monthly called Nandan. It was was rude shock to come out of that fantasy world created by that magazine and to read the periodicals for real people like Competition Success Review, Career and Competition Times (now defunct) and the various Year Books - as every reasonable person was supposed to do. Nandan was edited by Jai Prakas Bharati and in the editorials he will sign of as your brother - with intimate word bhaiyya for brother then the formal bhai. And may be Nandan period was the only one when yours truly could understand non-Urdu poetry, except of course what you were supposed to read in the course work. The publisher is now called HT Media (HT for Hindustan Times - their English language daily and not as dirty news paper as the Times of India.) They also used to publish one of the best Hindi weeklies called the Saptahik Hindustan (Weekly Hindustan). Times of India had even better thing called the Dharmyug (The Religious Era - magazine was social and cultural). Saptakik Hindustan sort of continued, for yours truly, the indulgence in fantasy. The exploits of Carlos Castaneda as depicted in Teachings of Don Juan - A Yaqui Way of Knowledge are still very fresh in memory and it took decades and a rigorous Islamic discipline to get out of the spell of his phantasmagoria. Then there were wonderful popular science articles by Mr Gunakar Mule including one wonderful special issue on SF - Science Fiction. This was another fictitious world out of which you would not like to come. Then they also had, and it still continues, a monthly called Kadambini. (There is a classic Indian book with that name by Ban Bhatta.) A few weeks ago yours truly got motivated to have a look at its latest issue and the railway station book stall did not have it but the youth on the counter told some other magazines were available like Hans and Navneet. These are quite good Hindi magazines and the point is that even a young man was familiar with the genre. Kadambini introduced elements of reality without breaking the long cherished fantasy world created by others magazines. It still continues that. So by now it should be apparent that that publication of Hindustan Hindi daily can only be a pleasant thing for yours truly. Their head of marketing, strategic business remarks:

“We have
approached Aligarh with the respect that the ‘Mecca of Education’.

Thank you sire for you very kind words. Your arrival should provide some respite because many of us are not completely at ease with the ideology that operates behind the some other local news papers. And without sounding like an spoil sport it would also be appropriate to make a suggestion that in place of Mecca some other word like citadel or whatever else you like would be even better for religion is a very dear matter to us. So thanks for your arrival!

I know, I know — families are having to tighten their belts, so the
government should tighten its belt too; and we’ll tighten our belt all
the way to a full-on depression.

Apparently America is passing through a minor recession or depression and if they indulge in what is called frugality then the monster will turn into a monster. They have been saying the same thing for some time. In short they have no assuring words and they can not think beyond interest rates and they can not think beyond progress. Dear Nobel laureate progress, even if it is linear, can not be indefinitely maintained. So any one living on a finite planet must be planning, particularly the people who give advice on planning should keep this thing in mind that they should be planning, according to finite resources. This in particular entails non-growth time planning. Do your home work - it will save you many painful moments - or embarrassment of being a prominent economist and not knowing what to do.

We get news quite occasionally when a girl is hailed by the main stream media for defying her parents and society to wear jeans. Things were not always the same. here is an anecdote from the past.

Once Imam Abu Hanifah (RA) was once walking in a slippery path, where a little was slipping and falling down. Imam Abu Hanifah (RA) went to help her, so the little girl said to him,“Do not worry about me. If I slip, I will get hurt, if you slip the whole Ummah will slip.”

May Allah(SWT) forgive us and give us courage to stand up for His word.

And thus for whole of Europe.
These countries, European countries and the west in general have some strange values.
Like having singers who use whatever lyrics they want to and dress, in fact the opposite, in the way the choose.
It is called freedom.
And they do not know that this is harmful for their society.
And when the repercussions manifest themselves in drastic events our friends are absolutely clueless as to how and why it happened.

In this back ground a farmer in Ireland got noticed by the media. It is old news - resurfaced because of end of the year list making. He simply told a famous singer to get more clothes on her and try to get connected with higher reality. Luckily he is a Christian otherwise it would have been filed as one more example of Islamic what not.

In this post we forgot to mention one significant event. When Professor Piara Singh Gill met Hasan Kamal Sahab he embraced him tight and started crying inconsolably. That is one remarkable event. The reason is that it has come to your poor Alig via people like late Miyan that Professor Gill was one of the many stern academicians of AMU of those days. These were the people who had direct access to higher ups of the country and hence were some bodies in their own right apart from their academics.

Hamza Andreas Tzortzis has written a paper on embryology in Qur'an.This post has the link to the paper. Here this paper is noticed by PZ Myers, the presiding deity of evolutionists in the US - American version of Richard Dawkins.
Of course PZM puts up a brave face. The trouble with the atheists is that they do not realize the layers and layers of falsehood that they have surrounded themselves by. In deed they see others surrounded by these very layers. They might know about the inferiority complex but ignorance complex is still unknown to them. And new information takes time before it is soaked in the ecology of the brain.
But for now this is no small matter that people from the current scientific establishment are taking note of Muslim point of view. Whether they agree with it or not is their responsibility.

The news is from Texas, USA. Some one contacted the emergency and then said nothing. Most probably after shooting six people in his family the person called the police and shot himself too. That makes it seven dead. People were discovered around Christmas tree and they had opened their gifts. A festivity changed into a calamity.

Pictures from less than a century tell us the stories of famine where whole skeleton like people can be seen in misery. Those were the calamities of that day. Above is a calamity of our times. May Allah(SWT) have Mercy on us all. May He (SWT) guide whom so ever He pleases to the right path.

There will be news analysis of the US event - a thorough dissection of the event and its causes but real cause is Lord Most High and we could do well to ponder as to why He allowed these things to take place. Only then we can figure out as to what we can do.

And the relevance for those who are in India is that we do not follow the same path that leads to such grim consequences.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

If a non-Muslim has the same title as the present post then this gives goose pimples of serious kind to yours truly. It is absolutely useless to be professor of Islamic Studies if it has not helped you to realize that there is no god but God and Muhammed (PBUH) is His messenger. Such people, even if they do not fall in the ill-famed category of orientalists, are very tragic examples of our species. These are the people who are headed in the wrong direction in spite of the fact that they not only have the direction manual but they also have read it and they have talked about it and given in-depth discourses about it. Of course some of them try to do damage to Islam and Muslims by this erudition that they have. Here is a Fatwah about an article by one of the specimen of this category. She thinks that the Muslim dislike for dogs is merely cultural and not doctrinal. This time even erudition did not serve the party.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

The vagaries of the modern world are very much there. Here is an important reminder.

Psychologists have long known about the contrast principle and it is easily demonstrated in university campuses around the world with the simplest of experiments. Teacher brings in three buckets of hot, cold and tepid (room temperature) water and a student each (while blindfolded) is asked to place their hand in the hot water bucket and the other in the cold one. Then, both are asked to dip the same hand in tepid (room temperature) water and describe the sensation.

Wow!

The student who had earlier dipped his hand in hot water describes it as cold while the other describes it as hot. That's because they had different "comparison points" and anchors.

Marketing gurus and sales people use this principle to maximum effect! In the US estate agents are taught to show "overinflated and mediocre" properties first before showing the actual property which they want to sell and the instant glow in the eyes of the unsuspecting customer tells its own story. The first "overinflated and mediocre" property contrasts and extenuates the second property and the customer views it much better than it actually is.

Car dealers are taught to always negotiate the base (sticker price) of the car before selling options (tinted windows, sunroof, alloys etc) because the cost of £780 for tinted windows seems miniscule compared to the £18,000 which has been agreed for the car.

Similarly department store sales staffs are trained to offer you an additional £60 silk tie after the sale of £600 suit.

Overpriced deserts and drinks at restaurants work on the same principle.

Sara Gutierres, Ph.D., and Douglas Kenrick, Ph.D conducted a series of experiments where male college students were offered a photo of a potential blind date candidate of average attractiveness. If the men were watching "Charlie's Angels" the photo appeared to be less desirable (then it actually was) to the point where men wouldn't bother for a date which was available to them. The glamour girls of "Charlie's Angels" were to blame because they made average attractiveness look mediocre.

We (as Muslims) are bombarded by men and women of "perfect figures" by the media, what do you think it's doing to our relationships? For men, Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'aan:

[3:14] It has been made attractive for people to love the desired things; that is, women, children, hoarded heaps of gold and silver, branded horses, cattle and tillage. That is an enjoyment of the worldly life; but with Allah lies the beauty of the final resort.

Women are a source of attraction for men to begin with but when the "curvy beauties of the screen" are watched with intent then the perfectly attractive Sunnah loving home wife won't seem so attractive anymore.

Hollywood or Bollywood, movies, drams, soaps and songs will inevitably downgrade your spouse because Shaytaan is there to exploit the "Law of Contrast" and make the "curvy beauties of the screen" appear much more sensual and attractive than they actually are. Similar is the concept of "intellectual superiority" where the well rehearsed Pundit on the media will make your own spouse look inferior then they really are.

Islamic Tele-evangelism, Nasheed concerts and pop culture are also nothing but deadly to our Islamic ideology while thinly disguised as "Islamic events". And then we have the massive "Islamic conferences" where speakers are flown in from overseas paid megabucks and housed in 5-star accommodations to deliver "Islamic talks" to thousands of fans.
Where are we heading with all of this?

In our communities, how many of us have heard stories of marital breakdowns where the spouse is deemed to be "physically unattractive" or "intellectually inferior" while we scratch our heads and say, "There isn't a lot wrong with him or her!".

Can the "Law of contrast " be discounted in the breakdown of Muslim family epidemic which every community is experiencing?

Fortunately, the Qur'aan gives solid advice to limit the damage as follows:

1Guard your gaze: The poison of "contrast" enters your heart and mind through your eyes so the Qur'aan commands the first barrier to be placed on the sight:

[24:30] Tell the believing men that they must lower their gazes and guard their private parts; it is more decent for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do.

[24:31] And tell the believing women that they must lower their gazes...

1Dolled up Hijabees & Macho Bearded men: How many times have you been to the Masjid and noticed "dolled up Hijabi Sisters" with layers upon layers of makeup and skin tight clothes OR men with tight clothes to show their bodies which they have worked tirelessly at the gym for weeks on end? These "creatures of self-indulgence" must be told that they are committing Haram while enticing others.

[24:31] ....and guard their private parts, and must not expose their adornment, except that which appears thereof, and must wrap their bosoms with their shawls, and must not expose their adornment, except to their husbands or their fathers or the fathers of their husbands, or to their sons or the sons of their husbands, or to their brothers or the sons of their brothers or the sons of their sisters, or to their women, or to those owned by their right hands, or male attendants having no (sexual) urge, or to the children who are not yet conscious of the shames of women. And let them not stamp their feet in a way that the adornment they conceal is known. And repent to Allah O believers, all of you, so that you may achieve success.

3Thanking Allah (SWT): Next time your spouse does something which pleases you don't forget to "Thank Allah (SWT)".

[14:7] (Recall the time) when your Lord declared, .If you express gratitude, I shall certainly give you more, and if you are ungrateful, then My punishment is severe.

1Mr Perfect & Miss Right? There is a saying "Nobody is perfect" but it's time to implement it. Next time you are searching for perfection in your spouse, direct that gaze to yourself instead and follow the command of Allah (SWT) for the "dear wife":

[4:19] O you who believe, it is not lawful for you that you should forcibly take women as inheritance. Do not hold on to them so that you may take away some of what you have given them, unless they commit a clearly shameful act. Live with them in the recognized manner. If you dislike them, then it is quite likely that you dislike something and Allah has placed a lot of good in it.

So before reaching for that remote control next time remember what it's doing to your relationship!

Miyan Dr Syed Muhammed Ahmed, former Assistant Public Relations Officer of AMU expired one year ago on December 25, 2010. It is not an Islamic act to indulge in anniversaries so we'll not over do this remembrance. Many times while passing by the Proctor Office, that is very close to the Old Boy's Lodge where Miyan was parked for several years before saying good bye to this world, it was an effort to remind that he is not sitting in Room Number Three anymore. Verily we are for our Lord and unto Him is our return. In the mean time collapsing of his grave had taken place which and some addition of earth was done at the initiative of Mr Wasim Babu - former colleague and a protegee of Miyan. Your poor Alig is amongst the youngest of the people who were in Miyan's circle but a very senior member of that circle has decided to fill Miyan's position, in some matters, by YPA! Strange are the ways of our Lord. May Allah(SWT) grant every believer the ability and capability (taufeeq) to prepare for death before death. Aameen.

In a sense the present blog is still born. One of the aims in the mind of your poor Alig (YPA) was to comment on Science vs Islam issues. This is a much victimized topic with every Ta, Da and Ha having had his go at it. That the things have not moved an inch from their ancient position is clear from the fact that Muslim opinion about science is the one that no one else bothers about. This is partly because of the fact that Muslims have not contributed proportionately to modern science. This is not a small handicap to live with. But this is not an excuse also to avoid this important exercise. Even then your poor Alig will prefer mundane indulgence in routine pursuit of science as compared to the most lofty discussion on Islam and Science. Reason will be obvious to any practitioner of science. Unfortunately the topic is too serious to be left to the outsiders - those who do not practice science as a vocation. No self glorification intended - may Allah(SWT) save every believer from that major sin.

So why is YPA not persuing this line of action? Answer lies partly on people's interest but only partly because the major portion has to be blamed squarely upon YPA's laziness or lack of assertion. Any way because of two accessible posts here and here YPA is motivated to take up this task again, Lord Most High willing. Have a go at them before we get down to brasstacks, IA (Insha Allah=Lord Willing).

All that we relate to thee of the stories of the apostles - with it We make firm thy heart: in them there cometh to thee the Truth, as well as an exhortation and a message of remembrance to those who believe.

This firmness of heart does not end with the Prophets(AS). Even in the Holy Qur'an it is not restricted to Prophets (AS). There is, for example, the story of Hazrat Luqman who is not regarded by many people as a Prophet but his story is full of admonition. So much so that he is nearly synonymous with wisdom. It will be very naive to assume that firmness of heart is granted by the stories of Prophets (AS) only.

And we also conclude that in the stories of the Elders Truth comes to us.

It will also be fair to conclude that in these stories exhortation comes to us. We keep looking for motivation here and there and we show disdain at the stories of Elders.

And if we do not get connected to these stories of the Elders then let us be warned by the concluding part of above Verse. If we find these stories uninspiring then it only points to the fact that we have some weakness in our faith.

Suppose you are an astronaut. And you are in space above the Earth. And you are passing above Tasmania. And it is night time. And there is a storm over Philippines providing the nighttime fire works. And then you see the coming up of the Sun manifested in a progressively bright arc on the horizon. And then you also have a comet called Lovejoy, thrown in, to a good measure. How will you feel? Well spectacular can be one word. Astronaut Dan Burbank found this all from International Space Station.

The world does not run by armchair propositions. But then that is all one can do in some cases. France has made it illegal to deny 1915 Armenian genocide. The accused party is Turkey - the rightful successors of the Ottoman Empire. The timing of the French legislation is not a secret to any body. Turkey has been asserting itself in the international arena and this is something that is not palatable to the west in general, including the US who had taken similar step some time back, and France in particular. Even then to face the reality squarely might not be such a bad idea for Turkey. The people responsible for the acts of that event are not around and anything historical will come back to haunt again and again if ignored. In the environment when the Roman Catholic Church is apologizing for centuries old mistakes it might not be a bad idea to look at the reality in face and accept the past mistakes. Of course easier said than done and these are not very trivial matters to exercise one's judgement but facing the reality is always in one's own interest. And Allah(SWT) knows better. And to Him we return again and again after our mistakes.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Iraq has been hit by a number of blasts that can only be co-ordinated. Our knowledgeable friends already tell us that it must have some thing to do with Shia-Sunni matters. Sunnis and Shia are not segregated completely and because of that only most naive people would conclude that it might have been done by either of them. To kill fifty of other's people it makes no sense to kill fifty of your own group. It makes sense only in US/UK psychology. The very same people who captured a Sunni man called Saddam Hussein and handed him over to his arch enemies-the Shias. Of course they also had discovered the so called Al-Qaida-a panacea for all ills. When you want to obfuscate the situation, when you want to take an unjustifiable action just blame it on Al-Qaida or produce the justification. After the thermonuclear devices Al-Qaida is the most versatile weapon discovered by the western powers.

He had reportedly said Sangh was behind the killing of Mahatma Gandhi and that the hand of the organization had been found behind some explosions in the country and so it should be banned.

And all hell broke loose. Here is the hard found report. RSS and its activities constitute the biggest collection of skeletons in India's cupboard. A stark reality that sooner or later has to be confronted. The pathetic wishing away of this reality both by the majority as well as the minority communities is also part of reality. In above mentioned event itself it is apparent that RSS activists were present in a significant number in the activity organized in support of Anna Hazare. If they were present then there is an RSS connection too. Why is that? People have been asking about silence of Anna movement in matters related to minority. A Movement that is as ambitious as the Anna Hazare movement can not ignore issues related to minorities. So far there is no clear cut picture presented to the people by the team Anna in this regard. Looking back at the history of independent India one thing is clear that any assurance in the vein that let the Lokpal bill go through and then minorities issues will be sorted out to their satisfaction can not be taken seriously. The deprivation of minorities is too stark to be ignored. The deprivation is combined with all too visible homophobia and these matters are serious enough to be given top priority. And the biggest minority will do well to pull up its socks. It has lived for nearly seventy years in the hope that some one else will take care of its interests. Petty politicians of minority community, of course, have taken care of themselves.

(1) If linked with the word Qur'an or Kitaab, then Hasan Basri (RA) and Imam Shafi'i (RA) say they have heard from two hundred Companions (RA) that Hikmah here refers to Sunnah.
(2) Means Wisdom in those cases when it is linked with Hazrat Luqman.
(3) If linked with Allah(SWT)'s Grace (Fadl ) then in Ibn Abbas (RA)'s opinion it this means Fiqh (Argument : Hadith in Bukhari)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

WASHINGTON: The United States has said that Taliban is not an enemy of America, a move seen as the latest effort of the Obama administration to send an olive branch to the terrorist outfit that ruled Afghanistan before 9/11.

As the days come to closer to one’s marriage, excitement, ecstasy and elation pump through the bride and groom. The build up to marriage is an experience of thrill and jubilation. When the marriage is solemnized, one’s happiness and delight is on the verge of brimming and tipping over. When the newlywed couple meet for the first time, words cannot describe the sweetness of the bliss, serenity, pleasure and elation tasted by the two.

If every day of the marriage can mirror the first day of marriage, and every night reflect the first night of marriage, then the marriage will be a euphoric experience on this world.

The gentleness, passion, love, tenderness displayed on the first day and night of the marriage should be portrayed throughout one’s life.

The first couple of months are always a ‘honeymoon’. Once the couple settle down, then reality begins. Many couples fail at this point. The husband gets engrossed in his job. He comes home tired and late, feeling hungry and tired. He demands for the food and feels lazy to do anything. He eats, puts the dirty plates in the sink and lies down on the sofa. He might awaken to perform sala-h if he is conscious of sala-h. Otherwise, he wakes up later on towards the night, phones a few friends, watches TV and keeps ordering the wife to get him x and y. When it is time to sleep, the husband if he is feeling in a good mood he will have relations with his wife-but only to satisfy his needs. Once he is fulfilled, he stops and drops off to sleep. Whether the wife is satisfied or not does not even cross his mind. This becomes the routine of his life.

The wife on the other hand, she initially tries to please her husband. She slowly loses her enthusiasm as she does not receive enough attention from her husband. She cooks to please her husband. She will put effort into her food. She will try and perfect every detail in the food. The presentation, ingredients and spices are put meticulously so they complement each other. After a while she begins to tire from this as the husband does not comment or he criticizes her food. As soon as the husband goes to work, she is on the phone to her associates. She cooks, watches TV, cleans the house and enjoys her day before her husband comes home. Once the husband comes, she becomes a slave again.

This style of marriage where there is no affection shown, no real emotion transmitted from one party to the other is heading towards destruction.

The husband needs to implement the romance the Prophet (PBUH) displayed. We consider Romeo to be romantic but not the Prophet (PBUH). If I was to say the Prophet (PBUH) was the most romantic individual, I would not be lying. Looking attentively to the biography of the Prophet (PBUH), you will find that he was extending a great deal of respect to his wives and was displaying high attention, care and love toward them.

He was the best example for the ideal manners toward the wife. He was comforting for his wives, wiping their tears, respecting their emotions, hearing their words, caring for their complaints, alleviating their sadness, going in picnics with them, racing with them, bearing their abandonment, discussing matters with them, keeping their dignity, supporting them in emergencies, declaring his love to them and was very happy with such love.

The husband and wife have to bond with one another psychologically, physically and spiritually. Here are some attractive examples and points we need to adopt to achieve a marriage of romance:

1. Know their feelings

The Prophet (PBUH) was telling Sayyidah Aisha (RA) : "I know well when you are pleased or angry with me. Aisha replied: How you know that? He said: When you are pleased with me you swear by saying "By the God of Mohammad" but when you are angry you swear by saying "By the God of Ibrahim". She said: You are right, I don’t mention your name.”[i]

The husband and wife should be aware of each other’s feelings. The husband should be able to gauge when his wife is upset or sad, likewise the wife should be able to read her husband’s behaviour. By being conscious of one another’s feelings, it will help in resolving any differences. When your spouse is down or upset, be there to console him/her. Sit with them, speak with them, listen to them. Try and make them smile. If the husband is always conscious of his wife’s feelings, and the wife is always conscious of the husband’s feelings, then this will assist greatly in keeping the ‘flicker’ alight.

2. Console her

Sayyidah Safiyah (RA) was on a journey with the Prophet (PBUH). She was late so the Prophet (PBUH) received her while she was crying. The Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam wiped her tears with his own hands and tried his utmost to calm her down. [ii]Prophet (PBUH)

This is another feature a marriage must have. Each spouse has to be there for the other in the good and bad times. The wife should find comfort and solace in the husband and the husband should find warmth and love in his wife. Be gentle with one another.

3. Laying in the wife's lap

The Prophet (PBUH) would recline in the lap of our beloved mother Sayyidah Aisha (RA) anha even in the state when she would be menstruating. The Prophet (PBUH)would recite the Qur?a-n whilst reclining in his wife’s lap.

How many times have we rested in the lap of our spouse? These gestures may seem trivial but they are the acts which bring the hearts close. The wife can sense and see the love of her husband for her in such actions. Every so often come home and just go and rest in the lap of your wife. She will appreciate this gesture greatly.

4. Combing the spouse’s hair:

Aisha (RA) would comb the hair of the Prophet (PBUH) and wash his hair.

This is how close a couple has to be. Love evolves and grows to such an extent that a spouse yearns to do everything for the other spouse even if it simply combing their hair. To maintain a high intensity of love, do the little things for your spouse also. Little acts have a huge psychological impact on the mind of the spouse. Seldom comb their hair, take their clothes out to wear, bring them a cold drink on a hot day, prepare something for them etc.

5. Drinking and eating from one place:

Aisha (RA) would drink from a cup. The Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam would take this cup and search for the place where the lips of his beloved wife made contact. Upon finding the place where his wife drank from the cup, he would put his lips on the very same place so that his lips have touched the place where her lips touched. He would then drink the contents of the cup at the same time enjoying with his spouse. When there was meat to eat, Sayyidah Aisha (RA) would take a bite. The Prophet (PBUH) would take the meat from her hand and again place his mouth the very same place where his wife ate from. This would add taste of love to his food.[iv]

Do things together with your wife. Do not just eat at the same time and on the same tablecloth, but eat from the same plate. Let alone the same plate, eat together from the same article of food. This will bond the hearts so close to one another. When everything your wife comes into contact with becomes more beloved to you than food itself, imagine the flame of love in your lives?

6. Kissing: -

The Prophet (PBUH) would kiss his wife regularly. Even when he (PBUH) would be fasting, he would kiss his wife.
Compliment your spouse often with kisses. When exiting the house, make it habit you leave by coming into contact with your spouse. When returning home, along with saying sala-m to her, show that you have missed her dearly.

When she is working or busy in her household chores, surprise her with a kiss. You have to show your love. Love is the fuel of marriage; if you desire your marriage to progress, you have to express your love in every way you can.

Physical relations in a marriage are very important. The famous saying is, “actions speak louder than words.” Show your spouse you love her. Shariah promotes romance and physical relations between the husband and wife. The Prophet (PBUH) categorically stated,

“Conjugal relations with your wife is a sadaqah (charity).”
7. Lifting the morsel to her mouth

The Prophet (PBUH) said : If you spend an amount you will be rewarded for it, -even when you lift the morsel to your wife’s mouth.”
The husband and wife should make these gentle gestures to exhibit their love and appreciation. Feed your spouse with your own hands now and then. This will rekindle the flame of love in your marriage.

8. Assisting her in the housework:

The Prophet (PBUH) would clean and help at home. He would see to his needs himself rather than demanding his wife. He would clean and see to his clothing himself.

Without being asked, if the couple help each other in day to day activities, it will make one appreciate the other. Likewise, one should try his best not to demand his/her spouse to do things too much. Whatever one can do himself, he should do. We need to be considerate of the spouse. The wife works tirelessly all day. So if the husband was to be considerate and realize his wife works hard, this will touch the wife. Likewise, if the wife was to go out of her way to see to the needs of her husband being considerate, it will induce a great spark of love between the two.

9. Telling her stories

Discuss stories and events with your spouse. Engage in light hearted discussions with her-something to laugh and joke over. The Prophet (PBUH) on many occasions would discuss stories, events and have light hearted discussions. The famous story narrated by Sayyidah Aisha (RA) regarding Umm Zar’ is evident.

This is one angle which is neglected more so than often. It is all ‘business’ between the husband and wife. They do not get into light hearted conversations. Instead, the husband rings his friends and chuckles with them. The wife on the other hand giggles during the day with her friends. This should not be the case. Focus and divert all your amusement and entertainment at your spouse. If you want to laugh, then let it be that you are laughing with your wife.

Make it a point in your busy schedule daily where you sit with your wife and do nothing but have fun with her.

10. Sharing happy occasions with her:

Once when the Ethiopians were practicing target shooting in the masjid complex, the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam stood with his wife watching. Not only did the Prophet (PBUH) stand with his wife, he put his cloak around her. The Prophet (PBUH)although he had other jobs to do, he stayed there standing with his wife. He only went when his wife wanted to go.[viii]

A husband should be one who shares happy occasions and experiences with his wife. When it is raining, cold or sunny, one should shelter his wife.

You should be willing to sacrifice your errands to spend time with your wife. When the spouse sees sacrifice for her sake, it will create immense love and respect in their heart.

11. Racing with his wife

The Prophet (PBUH) would exercise and play with his wife also. The famous incident of the Prophet (PBUH) challenging his wife to race is well known.

When a couple can have such good times together, it only ignites the love even more.

12. Calling her by a beautiful name:

The Prophet (PBUH) would call his wife ‘Humaira-’’ out of love. Linguistically it means the little reddish one, but the scholars state that in reality it refers to someone who is so fair that due to the sun they get a reddish tan. This was the reason why the Prophet (PBUH) called her Humairaa’.

Call your spouse nice sweet names. One has to show his partner love and affection in every little thing. One needs to feed love constantly to his spouse to keep the flame burning.

Once the Prophet (PBUH) stared into his wife’s eyes. He was gazing at the world within his wife’s eyes. He then said to Sayyidah Aisha (RA) in praise of her beauty,

“How white are your eyes.”
This is what is needed. The husband and wife should be constantly complementing and praising each other. The husband has to show his love and attraction to his wife. The wife needs to show her infatuation for her husband. When there is a reciprocal relationship, the marriage climbs heights.

13. Dress for your spouse

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (RA) said: "As my wife adorns herself for me, I adorn myself for her. I do not want to take all of my rights from her so that she will not take all of her rights from me because Allah, the Exalted, stated the following: "And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them." (Qur'an 2 :228.)
This is another area where many spouses fail. The wife only dresses when it is a special occasion. The husband on the hand stays scruffy and does not take care to be neat and tidy. If the couple want their everyday to be a special occasion like their wedding day, they must dress to impress!

The wife should wear the clothing which pleases her husband. Likewise, the husband should wear what the wife likes. Every time the husband and wife glance at each other, the glance should arouse them and stir up more love for their spouse. This will ignite the love in the heart.

14. Utilizing perfume:

The Prophet (PBUH)would have a container for perfume. He would use perfume constantly.[xii] One should make an effort to smell good for his wife all the time. Looking good, keeping clean, smelling nice compliments a relationship exceptionally. Make sure you hair is tidy, your clothes are neat and you smell pleasant. This will attract your spouse always and inject affection into the marriage.

15. Do not talk about her private matters:

The Prophet (PBUH)described the one who discloses his wife’s affairs to others as amongst the worst of people.

Whatever occurs between yourself and your spouse should remain between you two. How unmanly and shameful is it when a husband discusses his wife to his friends? The secrets and issues of the spouse must not be narrated at all to anyone. Do not talk about your wife to others. Your wife is for you. You are for your wife. Your fidelity and loyalty should always be to your spouse.

16. Loving and respecting their families

Another great factor to contribute to a healthy relationship is to love and cherish the family of your spouse. The Prophet (PBUH) was once asked whom he loved the most. He replied, “Aisha.” When the questioner rephrased his question and asked from amongst the men, he replied, “Her father.”

The Prophet could have easily said Abu Bakr. His answer displays such intelligence and ingenuity, that in one response he displayed his devotion to his wife and her family. He exhibited his fondness for his in-laws. Imagine how happy his wife Sayyidah Aisha would have become upon hearing this response?

Never underestimate the importance of seemingly little things as putting food in your wife's mouth, opening the car's door for her, etc.

Try to always find some time for both of you to pray together. Strengthening the bond between you and Allah (SWT) is the best guarantee that your own marital bond would always remain strong. Having peace with Allah (SWT) will always result in having more peace at home.

With regards to your second query about the China Islamic Association, the Darul Iftaa is not in a position to comment as we have no correspondence with the organization in reference.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

And now a digression immediately. Dr Farhan Mujib told us the following things. In Rushdie's book Midnight's Children, lots of things take place at the residence of the protagonist located at Cornwallis Road in Agra. Actually the family lived at Marris Road in Aligarh. That house where many things happened in the above mentioned book is still there located at what is called Abdullah (Women's College, AMU) crossing. Then there is this incident from Pakistan in a function - marriage party or some other party. Some one asked about a boy who was not mixing with others. He was told that he is Rushdie Sahab's son and God alone knows what he thinks of himself.

Coming back to Rushdie senior. Anis Ahmed Rushdie was apparently a brilliant scholar and he was dismissed from ICS service for age related forgery and missed prosecution by a whisker.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Slowly the west is coming to the realization that it has been using Christianity as the defining paradigm of life and doing some thing about it. Here is a link to modifies school programmes in Denmark.

Bollywood's top lyricist, writer and poet, Javed Akhtar, was in the University City of Aligarh to offer condolence to the family of his bereaved childhood friend, Professor Farhan Mujeeb, who passed away on 15th December. Javed Akhtar and Dr. Farhan were childhood friends and very close.

Since Javed Akhtar was abroad he could not make to the funeral (although his wife, actress Shabana Azmi did) but as soon as he landed in India he rushed to Aligarh. So distressed was Javed Akhtar at the loss of his friend (since the age of 11), that he could not suppress his tears. He spoke briefly to the press and said, "We were friends since school and shared a very special relationship. Even though he is far way now but I feel he will live forever in my heart and memories."

Javed Sahab also revealed why he named his son as Farhan saying, "I was so very close to my friend Farhan Mujeeb, and such was the effect of his personality and friendship that I named my son Farhan, because I wanted my son to be like him."

Well, with a heavy heart we too offer Javed Sahab and his family condolence at such a personal loss.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Ever felt the need to get surrounded by the Mercy of Allah(SWT)?
Desperately so?
Is the Prayer Call Allah(SWT)'s Mercy?
You do get surrounded by it everyday. Particularly at the Fajr and Maghrib Azaan times.

Physicist who redefined collages

His art brought together traditional miniature art and modern-day collage. He experimented with the paint brush, but in the art circle most recognise Farhan Mujib as the physicist who brought scientific precision to collages, putting together pieces of papers from magazines and photographs to create intricate images.

Hailing from Aligarh, the artist breathed his last in the same city on Thursday night. The 65-year-old, who died of cardiac arrest, is survived by wife Fawzia. He was buried at the Minto E Cemetery at Aligarh Muslim University on Friday.
“He lived his life to the fullest and truly enjoyed every moment. He was very social and had no greed or remorse,” said Sharon Apparao, director of Apparao Galleries, who organised several exhibitions of the artist and was his close associate.
Mujib, who taught at AMU, took voluntary retirement in 2004 when he decided to pursue art as a profession. While his debut solo was held at Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi in 2003, the following years saw him hold shows across India, including Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai.

Literature often inspired him and the artist created two-dimensional illusions of architectural spaces, complete with minute details.
Recognition came not just from artwork on the board, but also book covers that he designed, including those done for Jnanpith award-winning poet Shaharyar. Among his close friends was Javed Akhtar, who was his schoolmate from Minto Circle. The lyricist often attended Mujib’s exhibitions along with wife Shabana Azmi.

Yours Truly is not an Orkut or FaceBook fan but while searching for public information on late Dr Farhan Mujib thispage came up in the results. It is about best teachers at the Physics Department. Now in the context of the society which we are talking about this is a rather risky game. Various forces that are under operation can quickly step in and obliterate the reality to unrecognizable levels. Luckily above link fell silent after a few pages. naturally Dr Farhan Mujib is there. If it is too partisan then may be we'll remove later but the consolidated list includes M/s/Drs/Profs Hashim Rizvi, Wasi Haider, M.Zafar, M.Irfan, Rahimullah Khan, Badruddin, Zafar Ali Khan, Shakil Ahmed, Abbas Ali, M.Sajjad Athar, Farhan Mujib, R.Prasad, Fauzia Mujib, Shafique Ahmed. If some one feels that this list looks suspiciously long then kindly rest assured for that is the rub. Allah (SWT) in His infinite wisdom has blessed the Physics Department with excellent communicators and the students proposing above names are also asserting that every body is good and that it is really difficult to decide a name or two. The list was prepared in 2007 and 2008 so it has some (in fact so many) of those people who have since retired. And the people participating must be from a slightly younger generation, as is expected on internet, for names of people like Professors M.Z.R.Khan and late Israr Ahmed are missing. Yours truly earnestly supplicates to Lord Most High to maintain this distinction of furbishing the department with good communicators. This is a blessing and for each blessing thanks to Lord are mandatory and we thank our Lord Most Kind for this significant blessing. May He also maintain the positive inclination (husn-e-zan) of these former students who expressed such kind feelings.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Here we continue our tribute to one old departed friend Dr Farhan Mujib.

(1) For yours truly he was not from the age group - we was much senior but he had a near complete expertize to neutralize age difference. No wonder students would flock to him for all those informal chit-chats. He'll relish it when he'll get occasional emails from old students who'll tell him how they give their late sleeping habits to attend his first period or how wonder his teaching was or how he inspired them. Teaching perhaps is amongst most rewarding professions but its full potential does not manifest itself on everybody. Dr Farhan Mujib was one prime example where it did manifest itself in some glory. When yours truly once handed him over a book called On Being a Teacher, edited by Professors Amrik Singh and J.N.Kapoor his report was rather scathing. The books' chapters are by individuals who had great teaching careers and were adored by their students-we are talking about higher education. Gratification of teaching career comes out vividly in that book but Farhan Sahab's assessment was that these anecdotes are rather boring. Boring these are not at all but Dr Mujib was a somebody in his own right. (Psst!)

(2) He was instrumental in changing the question paper pattern of High School (Secondary School) and Intermediate (Plus Two or Senior Secondary) level examinations. Having got a doctorate in education he could talk about those aspects of education which others were not familiar with. He could talk about teaching methodology and he could talk about evaluation and he could tell how the distributions of marks differ in different examinations, how to set up good objective type questions papers and all that. Once he had set up the Physics question paper for Senior Secondary School Examination. It was a great experience for the students. Bright students were very happy because they liked the questions for the questions were not routine and completely new but these were not intimidating. By now that pattern of questions has become common so people will not know how the things were different before that. This was a sort of achievement that could be shared with close friends only.

(3) Yours truly pestered him, but he did not succumb to this, to create a wall size collage for the university using marriage cards. He was not amenable. On technical level he said that the cards are too thick to handle on collage and like anybody else he was piqued at the usual official attitudes. Plan in yours truly's mind was to edge some high university official to request Farhan Sahab to do this work gratis for the university. Before that we heard this call of our Lord Most High that he is no more with us.

Just returned from the funeral of Dr Farhan Mujib. He found a place very near to his father Professor A.Mujib who left this world in 1969. There were many people in the burial that took place in Minto E Cemetery of AMU. Yours truly was desirous of giving the burial bath to the departed friend but the earlier post, mostly for catharsis reasons, so engrossed the attention that time escaped in a flight. Some people had managed to come from Delhi otherwise it was a quick affair. Once again after returning from the burial attention was grabbed by the surviving member of this pair of swans. Yes that is the Indian metaphor. Some years ago she bade farewell to her mother-another very illustrious personality in that family. And some years before that she bid farewell to her father. This is the way of Allah(SWT) - He gives and He takes away. Here are some anecdotes that spur to the mind at this moment.

(1) First a joke from him. He was not religious my any stretch of imagination and yours truly was amongst those who used to bug him about this. A colleague revealed this after the funeral that he'll get the reports of these activities. Anyway Farhan Sahab was quite familiar with the Islamic terminology and could talk about Gog and Magog and the psychological aspects of Shia Majlis - just to give two disparate examples. He told this story that might be better told by professional narrators. Once there was a man who was scared of death. He came to know that he is going to die at some particular time. He some how thought that he would be safe at the top of Mount Kavkaz (Caucasus). He went to a Mystic and requested him that he may please be transpoted to Mount Kavkaz. The Mystic was preparing to spiritually transfer him to Mount Kavkaz and just then bang came the angel of death. He was surprised to see this man there. Angel asked the Mystic as to what that man was doing with him. The Mystic asked as to what was angel's business. The angel said that his next assignment is to snatch away the soul of that very man at the top of Mount Kavkaz.

(2) Once Farhan Sahan had a minor accident - he sustained an impact in the elbow bones. When yours truly arrived at Shaheen Villa, his residence, he had his hand in a sling. Soon it was time to go for consultation to a well known orthopedist in the locality. He decided not to take his car - he had a car when he was the only carred person in the Department. On the way at was time to crack jokes at the expanse of the would be benefactor - the orthopedist, owing to excessive inclination of the medico to worldly matter. Dr Mujib was no ascetic but worldly blessings did not overwhelm him-he had them all and he used them all but show-off aspect was conspicuous by its absence. The question was whether the medico will charge any fees from a colleague (Dr Mujib had not taken VRS till then) or not. More over medicos younger brother was a fast friend of Herr Mujib. The medico twisted and turned Farhan Sahab's hand at latter's expanse and recommended an X-ray. He did not charge his fees saying that you are the son-in-law of my teacher. This cheered up the duo-yours truly and Farhan Sahab. Not that Farhan Sahab ever needed a cheer for he himself was a great source of cheer to his friends. Then it was time to walk to the nearest X-ray lab that was Barula Market. After giving exposure to the technicians a few minutes wait was due. While sitting on the market railing he was telling about some past events and he came to an incident that was painful to report but one can not ignore the reality also. After narrating that semi-underground event he said, "Our respectability, Maripat, is just skin deep." As remarked earlier Dr Mujib was no Sufi but the wisdom that was oozing from this statement belongs to the repertoire of Sufis only. These are the moments that cement the bondage between human beings and the passing away of a dear friend becomes shattering because of the strength of these bonds. Rest In Peace Farhan Sahab - you were of a kind. We already miss you so much.

(3) Last meeting of yours truly with Farhan Sahab was in the marriage reception of Professor Wasi Haider's younger daughter. All the current and retired members of the Department were there and it was exciting for one and all to meet many people after various durations of time. Having left the Department Farhan Sahab very rarely came to visit it anymore. In this reception party he was clad in fashionable Kurta-Pajama. This was unusual because he'd rarely care to wear informal dress in public or even at home. But lack of rule is the rule was his generation and forte too. The parting anecdote to yours truly in that function is given below. Once Mir (the famous Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir) was once traveling. There were other people too in the same coach. They complained that Mir Sahab you are sitting silently it would be so enjoyable if you could indulge in some conversation. "Nothing doing", said Mir. "Why?", they asked. "Well you'll get your entertainment but by your company my language will get into decline", quipped the bard. The joke was told a typical artificial carelessness. Farhan Sahab used to indulge in this punchline delivering occasionally and with elan.

(4) To tell you the truth, Maripat, I was tired at that time. This was the usual sentence structure employed by Farhan Sahab. If he was popular, dear to every heart in Urdu (har dil aziz), then he was so because of a reason. He made efforts to win friends - of course he cared two hoot about influencing people. Allah (SWT) was bounteous in giving him friends in every possible walk of life - through family connections or because of his own efforts. He did not mind using techniques of popular psychology like Dale Carnegie or Transactional Analysis (of Thomas Harris) that appeared as I AM OK, YOU ARE OK. He was a consummate practitioner of these type of arts. He'll use his technology of communication on people who he chose. The choice fell on talented people and his speed of exploration was fast. People were amazed at the rate of appearance of new friends in his life. "This man can not live without people," he quoted some body about himself. How true. Even today a person remarked to yours truly that you had been very close to him. The truth of the matter is that this very person too has been very close to Farhan Sahab.

(5) Since had been, used in above passage, is different from were some explanation is in order. Because of the desire of Allah(SWT) yours truly started hobnobbing with the religious people. Farhan Sahab was very understanding but then there is reality. Frahan Sahab was vocal about his skepticism. When the psychologist came to visit him before his bypass surgery (he struck friendship with people like famous Dr Naresh Trehan, his surgeon, too) the kind doctor made to suggestion to him about remembering God above there. Farhan Sahab was forth right. "Do not depend on that doctor, there no body there", he sad. May Allah(SWT) guard us from these thoughts but this was his temperament. Because of newly acquired temperament of yours truly-and the ongoing journey, it became sort of awkward communication and the frequency of meetings dropped otherwise it used to be hours nearly daily in the evening at Shaheen Villa.

(6) In the initial phase of his collages there used to be old falling apart buildings, cracking plaster, museum quality exteriors. Interiors were fabulous but life was conspicuous by its absence - if you ignored the parrots, pigeons and kites (not the birds). The horses were heavily used but they were always pictures. People were puzzled as to how he could make the cloth fall from a table though the medium chosen by him was absolutely non-dynamic. He told that most of the time is spent in looking through the magazines for suitable pictures or through the collection already cut from the glossy magazines that he used for his collages as the raw material. He also dabbled in generating his own raw material by photographing catchy places, including the AMU and Aligarh buildings. Yours truly was once surprised to see a flowing river in the collage and some modern high rise buildings too. When it was pointed out to him he made his characteristic remark. "You are right, it is changing now, the nostalgia is gone." At another occasion when a new book, by Gyanpith awardee Professor A.M.K.Shaharyar, had a typical Farhan Mujib style cover yours truly inquired if he had done the cover. His reply was laconic, "You have changed but you have not lost your eye for the detail." There was a reference to yours truly's inclination towards things spiritual. The thing that had sort of created a drifting apart. Feeling of yours truly are before you but what were his feelings in this regard? He was not averse to speaking the truth and some may just turn up and spill the beans but the present evidence only points to them being still positive. And these are the things that make life a rewarding experience.

And for every blessing thanks are due to Lord Most High. Verify all praise belongs to our Lord Most Kind, As-Sattar.

Marhaba/Khushamadeed/Welcome

Dear visitor,If you recognize the following pictures then you are at home. If not then you are welcome as a guest. Here you'll find some tidbits related to some thing called Aligarh Movement with a tilt towards issues related to Science in Islamic context.